What's the effect of giving cocaine to a toddler? - QI

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Sandi Toksvig, Alan Davies and a host of comedy stars swap funny facts on every subject under the sun. It doesn't matter if they're right, as long as they're quite interesting.
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[@oldman1734]

When I was young, it was absolutely normal for people going to the dentist for potentially painful treatments to be asked would they would prefer gas or cocaine.

[@Sasseverk]

Username checks out

[@thephoenixsystem6765]

Excuse me do you have a hanky

[@oldman1734]

@@Sasseverk. Why be unpleasant? I’m just telling how times change. I suppose if you change the population you change the country. And boy, has the country changed.

[@oldman1734]

@@thephoenixsystem6765, see my reply to that other idiot. You two must be mates.

[@RFC-3514]

All dentists I've ever gone to have cocaine. Just for themselves, though.

[@Pewling]

I love Susan, she's just a bundle of joy and excellent humour.

[@micheleturley8758]

The gift that keeps on giving - these clips are fabulous

[@Maya_Pinion]

Absolutely.

[@writerinprogress]

I can honestly say that I HAVE - kind of - 'been chloroformed.' Back in my art student days in the late 'eighties, a large part of my Exhibition Design course involved making models, and many of them from perspex. Ordinary glue doesn't work that well to stick perspex to perspex - but what DOES work brilliantly is... chloroform (it temporarily dissolves the top layer of each perspex surface it's applied to, so you quickly push the pieces together while they're still wet and then when they dry they chemically bond back together as one solid piece.) Obviously, in a small workshop, with several art students all working together on perspex models, each with their own little (open) bottles of chloroform and paintbrushes, you can imagine it having at least a slight effect... I remember feeling kind of light-headed and silly after an hour or so of working in those conditions. And let's not forget, we were *art students,* so of course you got the ones who'd have a good sniff at the bottle, just because...

[@Markyparky56]

Same principle as Poly Cement and Airfix kits. Solvent based "glue".

[@tarmaque]

Huffer.

[@echognomecal6742]

I'm old enough to remember when mimeographs were handed out & the most useful thing about the blue, blurry things was finding out which of our classmates thought deeply breathing chemicals was a good idea. A few would take the stack before passing it back, hold it right onto their face & inhale so deeply you'd wonder if they'd either pass out or get paper embedded in their nostrils ;)

[@peterjf7723]

I always used acetone for solvent bonding perspex.

[@Jay_Johnson]

Yeah you really ought to keep the lid closed when you aren’t using it. Whenever I work with chloroform as a solvent it’s in a fume cupboard.

[@matthewdabadie3157]

"I don't have children but I have seen children"

[@stevevasta]

🤣🤣🤣

[@Blitzkrieg1976]

"Does this napkin smell like chloroform?" Best pickup line EVER.

[@Dan-vo7vc]

What is it from?

[@iDontShareMyData]

DAMN! Beat me too it!

[@ZarkowsWorld]

@@Dan-vo7vc Jimmy Carr

[@SakraIgor0qNomoko]

They always fall head over heels...in love, presumably.

[@pupip55]

@@ZarkowsWorld Its older then that

[@razzle1964]

Susan to Sandi … “Have you ever been chloroformed?” Marvellous.

[@jenniferhanses7064]

And here, as someone who studied Victorian history, my first thought was "It made them shut up." Because cocaine was used to "quieten" children, particular babies. So if you have a fussy baby, give it cocaine, and you'll sleep through night.

[@john.premose]

Is not it a stimulant?

[@RFC-3514]

Cocaine works as a painkiller, but it doesn't make them sleepy. For that, you want heroin (also given to babies between about 1895 and 1925).

[@jenniferhanses7064]

@@john.premose Don't ask me how it worked. I just remember reading about drugs and beer being the solution to everything in Victorian England, preferably drugs in beer. If your beer wasn't drugged, the pub owner wasn't doing his job.

[@CoffeeAddictEvan]

@@john.premose it's also a pain killer

[@CoffeeAddictEvan]

@@Joe-sg9ll wtf is the ADHD myth??

[@claytoncoe838]

Ether explosions are quite dangerous and easily created. If you have an open container of ether (without ventilation), the fumes will spread out throughout the floor, and if one bit of it touches the flame, the whole lot goes up all the way back to the bottle.

[@AbsolXGuardian]

"Cociane is still the gold standard for infant testing"

[@chrissimmer1273]

"Well that worked"

[@NicoScorpio]

How Alan tries to save the day with handkerchief, and still she carries on her chaotic rampage 🤣🤣

[@evanharrison4054]

Questions like these are questions that my parents asked a lot. What if we give beer to a toddler? What if we give whiskey to a toddler? What if we give a cigarette to a toddler? What if we feed hot peppers to a toddler? What if we only show horror movies to a toddler? What if we dress up as monsters to scare the shit out of a toddler? What if we store a toddler in a room full of 30 cacti and leave the house? Thank God they didn't have access to cocaine. ...or woodchipper.

[@lillithdv8]

In the realm of dodgy medicine, early 20th Century (around WWI) gave us Forced March tablets with the magical cocktail of cocaine + caffeine

[@RFC-3514]

People in the late 1930s were still recovering from the massive amounts of heroin they used to put in literally everything during the 1920s. They needed a bit of a pick-me-up.

[@peggedyourdad9560]

I'm pretty sure both of those substances can actually have some pretty nasty interactions with each other and with alcohol, which must've been great for the man taking them (/s).

[@samsonsoturian6013]

"Excuse me, does this rag smell like chloroform?" Is what I say to new employees...

[@dotanuki3371]

it's how I met my wife!

[@RFC-3514]

1:41 - Bowie didn't have *different-coloured eyes,* Josh. He just had *different-sized pupils* (as Sandi told you literally 3 seconds ago).

[@Lattamonsteri]

To be fair, in many pictures the eyes also look like they are different in colour :P but maybe that is caused by the pupils.

[@Yvolve]

He does, it is called Heterochromia and is a separate condition. The unequal pupils was the result of a fight as they mentioned in the video.

[@RFC-3514]

@@Yvolve - No, he doesn't. He mentioned it several times in interviews, and it's easily visible in photos. Both his irises are exactly the same colour, his left pupil is just permanently dilated. If you search for "David Bowie Eyes Radiox" you'll find an article titled "Did David Bowie really have different coloured eyes? - Radio X" with several close up photos.

[@Yvolve]

@@RFC-3514 Yeah, but also look at photo's of him.

[@RFC-3514]

@@Yvolve - Like I said, that article has plenty of close-up photos. The irises are exactly the same colour. As Bowie himself mentioned in several interviews.

[@Maya_Pinion]

I had cocaine eye drops before my Lasik. Weird,having a numb eyeball.

[@RFC-3514]

I bet it was even weirder when your eyeball started telling producers about this script it had written...

[@kevinmills1318]

Eyeball spent the entire night cleaning the house until it was spotless; then it took the vacuum up onto the roof!

[@heyysimone]

At my work (in a hospital mortuary) we have a jar that has maybe 200mL of chloroform. Myself and a coworker decided to see what it was like so we both took a massively long, deep sniff of it. Its doesnt smell great. Didnt do antything because despite what movies may show, it doesnt work instantly. But its fun to know ive now added that to the many many chemicals ive smelt working in a hospital mortuary and lab and their dangerous goods storage.

[@dotanuki3371]

when someone working in a mortuary tells me something doesn't smell great, I'll believe them

[@greenredblue]

I'm given to understand that chloroform doesn't even work the way it's presented in movies. It takes at least a minute or so, and much more chloroform than can fit in a hanky to knock someone out. And, once you do use enough, it's very easy to use too much and do serious harm. Apparently a very common problem with gaseous anesthetics.

[@KermitFrogThe]

Added to that most people are unaffected by sub fatal doses of chloroform. It was a common source of death in student or unofficial hospitals when in common use. The students would give the patient more because it wasn't working and keep going until it did, then perform an operation on a person who was dying.

[@john.premose]

Please don't say hanky. What are you three?

[@kevinschultz6091]

Yeah, my understanding is that it was a genre fiction (detective, I think) trope from the 30's that got used by Hollywood. Or it was simply developed for movies as a sort of cinematic shorthand for "and then they were knocked unconscious and taken to the Big Bad for interrogation." - as a hypothesis, so they didn't have to show an ACTUAL "knocking unconscious" episode of a large man hitting a woman in the back of the head with a wrench.

[@EebstertheGreat]

Chloroform is a liquid, but yes, it doesn't have the effect shown in movies. There are a few actual examples of criminals in the 1850s attempting to incapacitate victims with chloroform-soaked rags, under the belief that this would be possible. In all confirmed cases, they failed to render the victim insensible. In one case, a robber accosted an elderly clergyman in bed with a rag soaked in chloroform. They struggled for several minutes before the landlord came in. The chloroform apparently had little if any effect.

[@Jay_Johnson]

@@john.premose my dad is 64 and calls them a hanky so I think It might be a regional thing.

[@Dizzyfingers2]

@1:58 Wrong. Freud is on the right. Koller is on the left.

[@Tia-Marie]

1:59 - Dude on the left looks like he's done a line or two himself.

[@thebeardedjohn]

I haven't watched as much Qi since Stephen left, but I do really like Sandi a lot. Her laugh is lovely

[@Paulxl]

She is amazing. Qi is one of my favorite shows and a big reason why it's Sandi. She is really good.

[@jamesbullo]

Oh magnificent 👏

[@zunaidparker]

Laughing at all the folks commenting without having watched the clip 🤣

[@echognomecal6742]

Looking forward to bringing this tidbit up during a lull in boring conversation...

[@jobaby]

When my daughter was 11 months she had these eye drops, about a year ago! she has 1 pupil that dilated more than the other and as part of the testing process they brought up needing to use these drops to rule out a few conditions. The whole time the paediatric ophthalmologist was talking about using the eye drops I was like ‘Your putting WHAT in her eye!! You can’t do that!!’ I thought they where joking for sure lol! Absolutely harmless for her other than while her pupils where dilated she was a bit more sensitive to light.

[@mreckes9967]

Jimmy Carr's favorite pickup line "does this handkerchief smell like chloroform to you"?

[@stevevasta]

For a second, I read Jimmy _Carter_ .... which seemed unlikely....

[@mreckes9967]

Mind you nothing would surprise me in these "enlightened" times, no matter how unlikely.@@stevevasta

[@hyperbolic-time-chamber-strand]

lol damn had to read that title like 3 times.

[@trance9158]

Hilarious

[@colostomybag69]

Stephen fry would be enthusiastic about them eye drops

[@bigtex4058]

About 10 years inside.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

To add: In the Victorian era nightshade was used to dilate pupils. Not just for surgery but girls would do it to themselves in order to look cute. Just don't eat the stuff.

[@Blitzkrieg1976]

Are those eyedrops still around??? Lmao I need them!

[@user-ln2go4xp6d]

i do actually have different sized pupils, but it might only happen when i have a migraine. i feel like the eyedrops would just numb your face and you wouldn't get the benefits

[@codyluka8355]

You've probably already had those drops...or something very similar already and you've never even know it. Cocaine is one of the only drugs that have true anesthetic properties, which is why it is so useful in the medical industry. Without it, medical procedures would be pretty unpleasant.

[@samsonsoturian6013]

Probably need a prescription

[@TheBT]

The thing about cocaine is the dosage. There is a chemical that is near identical to cocaine and acts in the same way that in the doses that cocaine is typically taken at would do the same thing, if not more so. It is called methylphenidate, it's something I take as it is prescribed to me, it is something given to children. It's also known as Ritalin or Concerta. If cocaine was delivered in the same way it could probably help people with ADHD too. It's why if I gave/sold it to someone else that would be a few years in prison

[@joshl4111]

It’s less about the dosage and more about the length of time it takes to take effect. Depending on the variant you’re taking, methylphenidate takes anyway from 15 minutes to a hour to raise dopamine levels in the brain. Cocaine does the same thing in seconds. That’s why methylphenidate isn’t addictive at all when taken properly by someone who had ADHD. I wish it was, so I wouldn’t keep forgetting to bloody take it!

[@oenrn]

I think you're confusing cocaine with amphetamines (meth), which is where methylphenidate is derived from. There ARE compounds derived from cocaine that have medical uses, mostly as anesthetics (procaine, lidocaine, etc.)

[@joshl4111]

@@oenrn Yeah that was a brain fart, I meant meth. I use methylphenidate and SO many people go on about how it's the same as meth. It really isn't.

[@austinchoy7677]

Which episode is that?

[@StultissimiAmatorii]

If only it were possible to see the whole episode on KZbin...

[@williamjones7163]

My pupils are of different sizes due to surgery. My right eye needed emergency surgery to reattach the back back of my eye to the cornea. And then I had caterac surgery to replace the lens in my right eye. My right pupil is almost twice the size of my left. It has problems focusing and in really bright light, I have to close my right eye to see.

[@spicematthews8034]

I've grown up on farms and the panel is older than me and i always have a hanky in one pocket and a pocket knife in the other.

[@john.premose]

The word is handkerchief. And no, it's not pronounced hankerchiff. It's pronounced hanker-chief. Thank you

[@samsonsoturian6013]

In the days before disposable cloth, hankies were the norm. Disposible is just more sanitary since you don't need to wash anything.

[@john.premose]

@@samsonsoturian6013 and awful environmentally. But you're right, I don't really want to wash them either

[@samsonsoturian6013]

@@john.premose If that were so, it wouldn't be cheap, and therefore they wouldn't be disposeable.

[@catatonicbug7522]

My dad always carried a handkerchief. I always thought the idea of carrying around my boogers in my pocket all day was disgusting! Kleenex has always been easy to come by, so a handkerchief has never been practical.

[@sstills951]

It seems in the old movies handkerchiefs had multiple uses. Obviously, cleaning noses was the predominant use, but it seemed like people were using them as just a general cleaning rag. I just hope that the people who carried a handkerchief back in the day owned more than one and had a recurrent laundry cycle.

[@h7opolo]

even off-brand tissue paper works! ;p

[@_Madfly]

@@h7opolo You wouldn't want to wipe your nose with tissue paper, that's something else entirely!

[@RatKindler]

My dad also used a handkerchief. In fact, I can't remember ever seeing him use a Kleenex even though we had them. I remember using my dad's handkerchiefs for learning magic tricks when I was a kid.

[@catatonicbug7522]

@@RatKindler maybe that's the connection! My dad has been a performing magician since he was a kid, now a member of the Magic Castle in Hollywood. I never got into the magic myself, so maybe that's why I dropped the handkerchiefs.

[@griddlethekids]

I have anisocoria, now I have to try these drops

[@arielcahn7728]

My dad still uses a hankey. He always has one with him, and it's almost always covered in snot. I just can't understand the appeal, but I suppose it's a habit.

[@AmarylisFlow]

Caffeine is super addictive (though not as addictive as cocaine I imagine), I do think lots of people forget it’s a drug. If you drink coffee everyday and you don’t think you’re addicted stop for 2 weeks, enjoy…

[@cloudhigh6582]

Very true! And people also forget or turn a blind eye to the fact that alcohol is a drug and it's a hard drug. You can see from the panel that they don't think it's ok to give cocaine to children but find it funny if you give alcohol to children.

[@felix_christopher]

Whoa, some ruthless interactions in this one! But great contestants nonetheless.

[@butter_nut1817]

someone explain that haircut

[@nicksabot]

Who is the woman with the Chelsea?

[@pandorazbox9659]

Love my hankies, and my pankies come to that.

[@shmookins]

I immediately thought of a doctor giving a child the eyedrop going: "One for you, and one for me" as the doctor took the second drop into their own mouth.

[@randb4865]

Happy toddler.

[@charliewalton1]

Lol when Josh said you don't see hankys, I said because it's gross and then almost half of them proudly admit they always have a hanky/snot rag on them. I'm all for saving the planet but hankys isn't the way!

[@df20001]

I think Sandi is conflating anisocoria with heterochromia near the end.

[@CJ-cz3hv]

IVE HAD THOSE A SORT LIKE THOSE EYEDROPS DONE BEFORE TO CHECK MY PUPILS AND I HAD TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL AND MY EYES WERE SO BIG THEY STARTED CALLING ME A DRUGGIE

[@oenrn]

"Why are your eyes so big?" "Cocaine" "..."

[@stephenjames3377]

They stop crying...

[@mikelheron20]

Sorry, Sandi. Sigmund Freud is on the right of the picture.

[@stobiusshroden]

Couple of years jail.?

[@dg8620]

I suspect the effect would be 2 million views, 100k likes and a suspended sentence

[@locojambo]

I think a kid ate some they found in the back of a taxi once. Not good. Take care of your cocaine better people.

[@donotevenbegintocare]

But I have seen these "children" things and, let me tell you, one thing struck me. They really are quite small.

[@toothfairy10133]

no bc they're *so* tiny, like i didnt see a small child for years (no new births in the family and i don't leave the house much) and then i got a job in retail so people are bringing their toddlers into the shop and holy shit they're so small???? and so adorable???? like i would be looking at this being that doesn't even reach my knees and like, realizing that i have *memories* from when i was that small, it's wild

[@sarahfaith6531]

Isn’t medication for add & adhd just cocaine? They give that to loads of kids nowadays.

[@robsmithracing]

Ask Paula Yates…no wait her daughter….Peaches Geldof….oh wait.

[@pibly7784]

What show is this?

[@clayjordan9700]

QI

[@qrubmeeaz]

Why is everyone being mean to Susan?! Stop it QI, STOP IT!!

[@RedSaint83]

I guess you could use a mask instead of a hankie these days.

[@luisgalindo6097]

I think the effect is getting the children taken away

[@toyav7504]

What a strange comment section.

[@khymaaren]

You can say that again. I think some people actively search for things that they can feel offended by.

[@echognomecal6742]

Yes, but an opportunity to report people who comment advertising for selling drugs :)

[@samsonsoturian6013]

You're here

[@rayne6719]

The modern war on drugs is why everyone is scared of cocaine. Yet Adderall and alcohol are everywhere.

[@RFC-3514]

Alcohol generally makes you pass out before you reach a fatal overdose. And I'm pretty sure Adderall needs a prescription, so it's not "everywhere", unless you count obtaining it illegally, and in that case cocaine isn't that hard to come by, either.

[@rayne6719]

@@RFC-3514 you can't die from coke either, by that standard.

[@RFC-3514]

@@rayne6719 - I'm not sure which "standard" you're referring to. Cocaine is a stimulant; unlike alcohol it won't make you pass out in less time than it takes to consume a fatal dose. And a cocaine overdose can definitely cause strokes, seizures and heart attacks, all of which can kill you. Conversely, relaxants / nervous system depressors like heroin can kill you through hypoxia, by making you stop breathing (and it's also pretty easy to overdose). So the reason why alcohol (and cannabis) is generally more tolerated is that it knocks you out before you drink enough to kill yourself "directly" (though it's still pretty easy to have enough to kill yourself - and other people - via drunk / stoned driving).

[@rayne6719]

@@RFC-3514 I don't know that cocaine causes overdoses. In fact, I've known it to contribute to many pleasant evenings. Alcohol causes liver damage and car crashes

[@RFC-3514]

@@rayne6719 _"I don't know that cocaine causes overdoses."_ - Well, you have plenty of medical literature at your disposal on the internet, so if "you don't know" that's kind of your choice. People who work in hospitals do know.

[@I_am_BiG_Al]

I have two different colour eyes

[@sirfizz6518]

Yes it's illegal to give toddlers cocaine, but only because they're not quite of legal cocaine-snorting age.

[@in1earoutthewindow383]

Wtf!!!

[@dwightlove3704]

Ever heard of something called a FUNERAL

[@AdamBechtol]

hehe

[@littletimmythefifth29]

Here at 176,351 views.

[@OhNoNotFrank]

The cocaine OD's.

[@EternamDoov]

What's the apostrophe for?

[@OhNoNotFrank]

@@EternamDoov For pedantic readers.

[@edwardcamp3376]

I love how frustrated Maisie gets with Susan. It's how I feel listening to that Scottish foghorn.

[@tylermcnally8232]

They turn out like Trump....

[@robertbones326]

BBC: *spends decades being totally politically correct* BBC in 2023: ahh fk it

[@whiskeyricard]

What’s the deal with that one ladiy’s haircut???

[@georgielancaster1356]

I agree it is HIDEOUS - and she has had it for years, but it is actually a political haircut. Which was big in the 70's? 80's? 90's? Not sure when in UK, as I am not a Brit. It is leftwing, but I don't know the particular details. Most women gave it up as adults, realising it's a bit juvenile to wear a hideous haircut, when you could just tell people your values, but she has cemented that hideous haircut on. It would be so much easier to buy a badge...

[@ash36230]

Which lady? There are three of them.

[@DukeOfKidderminster]

It’s how skinhead women usually have their hair.

[@EternamDoov]

'70s,' 80s, '90s. Stop putting apostrophes before the s

[@EternamDoov]

Josh looking like an old lesbian

[@LeafShade]

Hankies are such a disgusting and off-putting concept.

[@GlennDavey]

This channel has too wide of content on it. I have to "Don't Recommend Channel" on the whole shebang just to avoid the egregiously annoying stuff. Bye bye Beebsy

[@yolacancino]

Why are we even discussing this??

[@penguins0392]

Funny

[@stereoroid]

Because it’s Quite Interesting?

[@yolacancino]

@@stereoroid how is the idea of intoxicating a child is interesting??

[@magnusjohansson8567]

Watch the clip and you'll find out.

[@sstills951]

@@yolacancino Did you watch the video? It's safe and is still the best way to test for anisocoria.

[@jleonjackson6674]

Opening with am humorous question about giving cocaine to a toddler? Laughing about the answers... i cannot believe that bbc would actually air this... there is nothing funny about toddlers being given cocaine.

[@3rdStoreyChemist]

Yeah, it’s true that safe medical procedures carried out by professionals is not particularly funny. But it is quite interesting how all sorts of popular recreational drugs are used in medical procedures.

[@khymaaren]

You are right. But, and please follow me here, nobody gave cocaine to anyone in the video. To paraphrase Ricky Gervais, telling a joke about a serious thing is not the same as the thing itself.

[@dingo137]

Actually doing it, that's not funny. It's pretty funny to *imagine* a toddler on cocaine though.

[@jleonjackson6674]

@@dingo137 No it's not funny. Do you have a toddler? As an ex police chief I've seen several toddlers, children, and newborn babies od from cocaine. Do you know the heartbreak that brings? God I hope people like you NEVER have children!

[@dingo137]

@@jleonjackson6674 I don't think there's any OD risk from imaginary cocaine.

[@asusmctablet9180]

I wouldn't expect the Chelsea hairdo to come back.

[@dg8620]

I suspect the effect would be 2 million views, 100k likes and a suspended sentence